Real Money

5 Best IPOs of 2011

These companies delivered the best returns during a down year.

ServiceSource -- up 57%

ServiceSource ( SREV) debuted in late March, pricing 11.9 million shares at $10 each, above a projected range of $7.50 to $9 each, to raise $119 million. The stock closed Thursday at $15.84.

The San Francisco-based maker of revenue-management software applications is enjoying some benefit from its association with the cloud after SAP paid a 52% premium for SuccessFactors ( SFSF).

ServiceSource helps companies manage maintenance, support and subscription agreements for tech companies. For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, the company posted non-GAAP earnings of $1.1 million, or a penny per share, on revenue of $50.1 million, up more than 30% year-over-year.